the sound of the hifiman edition xs

[musica]

If I turn up the volume on the amp, I start to hear HEXS a bit annoying.
The higher female voices start to be annoying is this normal?

 

[musica]

If I turn up the volume on the amp, I start to hear HEXS a bit annoying.
The higher female voices start to be annoying is this normal?

defective headphones or something else?

 

[Dunring]

If it's too much equalizing them in any player is easy. Female vocals range up to 2.4khz for Mariah Carey hitting the whistle range with her highs. Reducing -2 to -3db up to that is pretty easy to do by ear when an annoying track is playing.

 

[musica]

could it be the amplifier's lack of power, because the annoyance occurs when I turn up the volume?

 

[Jimbob54]

could it be the amplifier's lack of power, because the annoyance occurs when I turn up the volume?

Impossible for us to say with the information provided . What amp? Which gain setting and how much are you cranking it on the volume knob?

More likely you could use a little eq if you find out what frequency range is upsetting you. Or maybe you're just listening too loud full stop.

 

[Jimbob54]

Try this eq profile and modify to your taste. http://www.dropbox.com/s/djhxtkvqne01kxv/Hifiman Edition XS.pdf?dl=0

 

[musica]

gain 0 db and volume at 1 o'clock
what do you think?

 

[Jimbob54]

gain 0 db and volume at 1 o'clock
what do you think?

This? https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-measurements-of-lake-people-g109-s-amp.7227/

I very much doubt you are hearing distortion from that amp. Try some EQ. There is a bit of a peak around 3khz. If you are going loud to raise the bass up then that 3k area can get quite screechy

 

[solderdude]

If I turn up the volume on the amp, I start to hear HEXS a bit annoying.
The higher female voices start to be annoying is this normal?

Yes, caused by the substantial treble peak.

It is present in all similar hifiman models. Only the Susvara, HE6 and HE560 do not have this peak.

could it be the amplifier's lack of power, because the annoyance occurs when I turn up the volume?

The XS is pretty sensitive (109dB/V) so even using a phone you can get it moderately loud.
Your amp will clip when the headphone reaches 125dB SPL.

The treble peaks become annoying (grating even) at higher SPL. This is what is causing the 'sharpness'.

 

[musica]

Excuse me, but isn't the sensitivity of the XS 92 db?

 

[Jimbob54]

Excuse me, but isn't the sensitivity of the XS 92 db?

Hifiman state it is 92db/ milliwatt
Different units than quoted above.

 

[DVDdoug]

Power (Watts) can be calculated as Voltage squared/Resistance.

So, if I did my algebra & calculations correctly, 1 milliwatt is 0.134V

IMO - A mW spec for headphones isn't that useful because headphone impedance varies so much, and amplifiers are "voltage sources".

 

[solderdude]

Excuse me, but isn't the sensitivity of the XS 92 db?

I measured the following values.

Efficiency: 91dB @ 1mW
Sensitivity: 109dB @ 1V

Edition XS (2023)

back to HIFIMAN back to measurements home published: June-04-2023 NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’ sharp peaks and …

diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com

Efficiency says something about how much dB soundpressure there is when 1 mW in power is applied.
Sensitivity says something about how much dB soundpressure there is when 1 V is applied.

Efficiency numbers say very little as the impedance is also involved. No idea why some manufacturers still hang on to this number as all amplifiers supply a voltage and not power. So sensitivity numbers dB/V make more sense and can be directly used to indicate how loud headphones sound opposite each other.
Efficiency numbers can not compared directly so make no sense.